Zoabi proclaims Palestinian ‘victory’ in Gaza

At rally in Galilee village of Kabbul, Balad MK says it's the right of all Palestinians to fight Israeli occupation

MK Hanin Zoabi takes part in a protest against Operation Protective Edge in Gaza, in Haifa on July 18, 2014. (Photo credit: Flash90)

Balad party MK Hanin Zoabi hailed a Palestinian “victory” over Israel in the latest round of Gaza violence, making the declaration at a rally in northern Israel on Friday.

Approximately 2,000 people attended the demonstration called by the Arab Higher Monitoring Committee entitled the “Gaza victory” in the Galilean village of Kabbul. Attendees, headlined by Zoabi and fellow Balad MK Jamal Zahalka, marked a moment of silence in memory of those killed in the Gaza Strip, waved PLO flags and held picture of slain Gazans.

“The Palestinian resistance and the people as a whole in Gaza defeated all the military and political objectives that Israel set for itself. Our people’s struggle thwarted all of Israel’s objectives,” Zoabi said at the gathering.

“This is a victory rally for the Palestinian people,” she told Channel 2. “There is no people without resistance and there’s no resistance without the people. This is victory for the Palestinian people, and it’s the right of the entire nation to fight the occupation. I’m not concerned about public incitement. It’s the natural right of the Palestinians. When there won’t be occupation, there won’t be resistance.”

Despite most of the attendees’ proclamations of victory in Gaza over Israel, some Arabs who remained anonymous voiced dissent to Channel 2.

“A gathering of this kind is liable to bring more hatred and criticism of Arab Israelis,” the anonymous Arabs were quoted saying. “It’s true that it’s the right of the Arab Israelis to protest against the war, but the timing of the rally is problematic.”

The rally in Kabbul coincided with an Islamic Jihad victory march in Gaza and followed similar celebrations by Hamas and residents of the Strip.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad supporters celebrate what they said was a victory over Israel, in Gaza City on August 29, 2014. (Photo credit: Emad Nassar/Flash90)

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